Urederra Source and Urbasa-Andía Plateau

The Nacedero del Urederra is one of the most spectacular natural sites in all of Spain, yet it remains relatively unknown outside Navarra. It is the source of the Río Urederra ("beautiful water" in Basque), which gushes directly from the limestone rock of the Sierra de Urbasa in a turquoise cascade. The water is an intense blue-green that looks unreal, produced by the refraction of light through dissolved limestone. The trail along the river from the Baquedano car park to the spring (1.5 hours one way) passes pools and waterfalls of extraordinary colour.

The Sierra de Urbasa-Andía is a limestone plateau rising above 1,000 metres that stretches between the basins of Pamplona and Estella like a world apart. It is a landscape of centuries-old beech forests, alpine pastures, dolines (karst depressions where snow accumulates in winter), and wildlife that includes semi-wild horses grazing freely. The NA-718 road crossing Urbasa from east to west is a straight line through beech woods that in autumn becomes a tunnel of blazing colour.

The Balcón de Pilatos, on the northern edge of the Sierra de Urbasa, is a natural viewpoint perched over a precipice of more than 700 metres plunging into the Valle de las Améscoas. It is one of the most vertigo-inducing lookouts in all of Spain: the cliff drops almost vertically and the views encompass the entire valley, with the villages of Zudaire, Baquedano and Barindano as white specks on the green valley floor. There is no railing, no barrier: this is wild Navarra in its purest form.

The route also includes Estella-Lizarra, one of the most elegant towns on the Navarrese Camino de Santiago. Its medieval old quarter — with the church of San Pedro de la Rúa (a Romanesque cloister whose carved capitals are of exceptional quality), the Palacio de los Reyes de Navarra (the only civil Romanesque palace in all of Spain) and the Puente de la Cárcel over the Río Ega — is a monumental ensemble that deserves an unhurried stop.

Practical riding info: the Sierra de Urbasa can have snow from November to April. The Nacedero del Urederra requires advance online booking (limited capacity since 2020). Mountain roads are good but with technical curves. Fuel stations in Estella and Alsasua. For food, Navarra's asparagus (the finest in Spain), the pimiento del piquillo from Lodosa, lamb al chilindrón and the wines of the DO Navarra round out one of Spain's richest regional cuisines.